Electric Blue: Color Me Shocked
by Sorceress Ink
Summary: Oneshot by the commenter Hybrid X, I'm just posting it for her. Beast Boy is sinking deep into depression, but Cyborg isn’t about to stand by and watch his friend become consumed.


He was there again. Even though the breeze blowing over the water made the already chilly autumn air freezing, he remained. Despite the fact Robin had specifically told him not to go out when it was this cold so he didn't become ill, Beast Boy was still down at the bay.

Cyborg stood at the huge window in the main room of the Titans' Tower, watching the lone verdant figure. He couldn't help but worry over his younger friend. Lately Beast Boy had become very quiet, and sometimes spent days in his room without even coming out for meals. Robin had dismissed this as just a teenage phase, and Starfire, being an alien, didn't know if this was normal behavior or not. But Cyborg was certain there was a reason for Beast Boy's suddenly dejected attitude.

Cyborg's computerized brain picked up the vibrations of quiet footsteps behind him. It wasn't Robin, because Cyborg would've heard his metal platform boots clank in time to the military precise walk only Robin could do. Starfire's stride was longer, because of her height, and she moved with a slight skip to her gait, when she wasn't flying. It wasn't Beast Boy, because he was at the bay, so by process of elimination, the measured, even footsteps could only belong to one other person.

"Evening Raven," He greeted the indigo-clad girl. "What brings you down here so late?"

The hooded empath stopped beside him at the window, gazing out into the night. Her amethyst eyes sought out the silhouette of Beast Boy, whose figure was illuminated by the pale moonlight. Then she turned to the metal man net to her and spoke after lowering her hood, so her face was no longer shrouded by the shadows.

"He's not okay, Cyborg."

The half computerized being glanced at her with a frown. "What do you mean?" He asked, his deep voice tinged with concern.

Raven looked at Cyborg with a serious expression on her face and spoke again in her low, ever-present monotone. "I talked to Beast Boy the night you gave him the antidote. He still doesn't believe he was protecting me from Adonis. Beast Boy is continuing to believe he's responsible for what happened."

Cyborg started, and looked directly into Raven's violet eyes, disbelief crossing his face as he registered what Raven had just told him.

Nearly a month ago, there had been a disturbance call from a chemical lab. The culprit, a villain named Adonis with a high-powered suit that gave him incredible strength, had come close to defeating the Titans in battle. Beast Boy, however, had become enraged and then let his animal instincts control him. The way Beast Boy had fought, with such aggression and ferocity, had astounded the team so much that the rest of the Titans had been too stunned to do anything but watch as their teammate brought down the villain in a manner that could not be described as anything else but predatory. Unfortunately, while the hero and thief were locked in battle, hazardous toxins had oozed onto them, covering the enemies in slime. Later, Beast Boy had begun to lash out in an uncharacteristically angry way, until he nearly battled with Raven over a simple misunderstanding. The situation worsened to the point where Robin had threatened to throw him out of the tower. At the end of the argument, Beast Boy had stormed off to his room, practically boiling over with rage. While Beast Boy locked himself in his respective quarters, Cyborg could hear what sounded like hard, heavy objects crashing into the changeling's side of the wall.

Sometime into the night, Raven had screamed. Her room was found empty, and so was Beast Boy's, except his had claw marks gouged into the walls, and bloodied glass shards digging into the carpet. Beast Boy had also been absent, leading Robin to believe that the changeling was somehow mixed up in the mess. The remaining trio of the team had tracked Raven's communicator signal into the sewers, where they had disturbed the lair of a hulking werebeast, whose prey was none other than Raven. When Starfire, Cyborg, and Robin had battled together against the freakish creature, at first it had seemed that they were the holders of victory. But whatever the animal had been, the creature had transformed back into none other than Beast Boy.

Robin had dragged the changeling back to the Titans' Tower and had begun interrogating him relentlessly. Because the chemicals had altered his memory, Beast Boy had been unable to remember anything except that he'd heard Raven screaming. Raven was unconscious, and unable to verify or contradict any of Beast Boy's story. Robin, though, had been convinced that the verdant boy was withholding important information, and had pushed the younger teen until he almost had a mental breakdown. Beast Boy had then lost control of his bestial rage, and had once more become the horrific creature of a child's nightmare.

Cyborg felt his chest tighten as he remembered battling Beast Boy once more, this time in the medical lab, following Robin's orders. The Beast had outsmarted them and fled, and Starfire had stayed at the Tower to guard Raven, while Cyborg and Robin tracked down the animal that at one time had been Beast Boy. They'd been led to the sewers once more, and there the two friends had realized that were wasn't just one werebeast, but two. Robin and Cyborg had watched as the two creatures fought against the other, each desperate to get the upper hand.

The outcome was looking bleak for the green werebeast, and that red werebeast had stopped to revel in it's primal victory. And that was when the jade creature had began attacking with such brutality that it made its opponent's previous violent force appear similar to a gentle pat on the back. When the red beast had finally succumbed to defeat, the red beast reverted back to Adonis, and Beast Boy had gone back to his default form. Both Robin and Cyborg had sprinted over to their fallen teammate, who was so weak and exhausted he could barely stand. Cyborg had picked Beast Boy up and carried him back to the T-Car, while Robin slapped the cuffs on Adonis, and brought him to the police.

Back in the present, Cyborg replied to Raven's earlier statement, jumping to Beast Boy's defense. "He shouldn't. B.B. had no control over his transformation, Raven. I'm surprised he managed to hold off the Beast as long as he did."

Raven held up a pale hand. "I'm not saying he's at fault, because that isn't the case. But the whole incident took place three weeks ago, and he's still in a lot of emotional pain." She looked seriously at Cyborg. "But I've never felt his anguish so intensely before now. You need to talk to him."

"What do you mean?" Cyborg queried, not fully understanding what exactly Raven wanted.

Raven placed a hand on the metal man's shoulder. "Of all of us, you're closest to Beast Boy. If anyone, he'll listen to you. "I . . ." She trailed off. "I'm not good with people. I did my best to make him think straight, but I doubt it helped." Raven's violet eyes were troubled. "Please, Cyborg. You need to help him."

Cyborg stood. "I'll talk to him, Rae. But . . ." He glanced at her uncertainly. "I don't know if it's going to help any."

Raven turned to eit the main room. "You won't know for sure until you speak to him. And even if you can't get through to Beast Boy, just the knowledge that someone cares might stop him form doing something drastic." She then left as quietly as she had come.

Cyborg watched Raven leave with a sinking feeling in his stomach. A thought rose in his head, but he quickly pushed it to the back of his mind. The question still haunted him, though. Was the happy-go-lucky jokester of the team gone forever, with a totally unfamiliar person left in his place?

**

Technically, Cyborg was part robot, so he couldn't feel temperature change like most completely non-computerized human beings. But he could tell from the analysis monitor on his arm that is was 29 degrees with winds, and that Beast Boy definitely shouldn't have been out at night alone, especially when it was this cold.

Cyborg made his way down the winding path cautiously, keeping his eyes on the verdant boy he had come to speak to. Beast Boy, with his greenish-teal hair, skin a few shades lighter than the color of grass, and huge emerald eyes, could've passed himself off as forest elf who had accidentally wandered onto the island. Cyborg smiled slightly as he remembered the indignant expression on Beast Boy's face when Raven had first pointed out that he resembled a magical creature from a child's fairy tale book. However, at the moment, the pair of blue and white striped pajamas slightly diminished his appearance as one of the fey.

"Hey B.B.," Cyborg greeted his younger friend, lowering himself onto the hard earth.

Beast Boy had been sitting with his knees drawn up to his chest, arms wrapped around his legs. position made the verdant boy appear more child-like and vulnerable than ever. He glanced up at Cyborg almost shyly, his sheepdog-like bangs nearly covering his emerald green eyes. "Hello Cyborg." He replied quietly. Beast Boy then lowered his gaze, and returned to staring out at the ocean.

Cyborg frowned and glanced down at Beast Boy with concern. It was unusual for Beast Boy to respond in such a melancholy manner, in fact, he was normally so talkative you couldn't get him to shut up. Forget unusual, almost unheard of. But the again, with this sudden personality one-eighty, maybe not.

"Beast Boy," Cyborg began, "is anything, you know, wrong?"

Beast Boy turned at the use of his full name, something that Cyborg rarely did. For just a moment, there was a fleeting expression on the verdant boy's face, and Cyborg thought his younger friend might confide in him. But a second later, it was gone, and the only response Cyborg received was the one he'd anticipated.

"No."

Cyborg kept his gaze on Beast Boy, who hadn't met his eyes when he'd replied. "B, I know something has to be bothering you. Tell me what's up."

Beast Boy's shoulders slumped in depression, and when he raised his eyes to Cyborg's, misery clouded his emerald irises. "Do you ever feel like you're locked inside a cage, but if someone hears you screaming, you'll be able to go free? But no one ever does, so you just keep on screaming until your words are pushed further and further down your throat?"

Not exactly," Cyborg answered cautiously, not wanting the younger boy to think he had dismissed his thoughts as completely ridiculous. "Any reason why?"

Without warning, Beast Boy buried his face in his arms and began trembling violently.

"B.B.?" The younger of the two didn't respond, so Cyborg moved closer to Beast Boy and wrapped his arm around Beast Boy to comfort him. "B.B, are you okay?"

Beast Boy looked up at Cyborg, tears running down his face. "It was my fault." He said in a hoarse voice. "I attacked all of you and nearly killed Raven." The verdant boy's last words were choked by pain-filled sobs.

Cyborg knew very well that Beast Boy wasn't crying out of pity for himself. The reason he was so upset was because he felt true anguish and misery. And Beast Boy, of all people, didn't deserve either one.

"B, listen," the metal man told the younger boy. Beast Boy didn't look at Cyborg., but from the way he stiffened, it was clear that he was paying attention. "B.B., what happened was not your fault in the slightest. You couldn't control any of it, but even then, you still tried and succeeded to protest Raven and fight Adonis, no matter how much you got hurt in the process."

"But if I'd hurt one of you-" Beast Boy began to protest, and was cut off by his older friend.

"But you didn't, B.B." Cyborg held his friend's gaze seriously. "I'm worried about you, Beast Boy. You have to stop blaming yourself for what happened. The whole situation wasn't your fault."

"Yes it was," sobbed Beast Boy, covering his face with his hands. "R-r-robin was going to throw me in jail."

Cyborg silently cursed their gung-ho leader for threatening the thirteen-year-old, and cursed himself for not defending his friend. Beast Boy was like a younger brother to him, but some great older sibling he was turning out to be if he let Beast Boy get bullied like that.

"B.B., I wouldn't have let him do that. Besides, Robin wasn't honestly going to throw in prison. He was just upset and scared. We all were."

"But I-I'm a mon-monster, Cyborg. Y-you saw the be-beast. You kn-know." The verdant boy was barely able to choke the words because he was crying so hard.

Cyborg was shocked at the conviction in Beast Boy's voice. He knew at one that the younger teen wasn't just saying those things to get attention, but because he honestly thought that he was nothing more than an animal."You're not a monster B.B. I swear to God that you're not." Cyborg said adamantly.

At this point, Beast Boy's entire frame was wracked by sobs, and he was shaking uncontrollably. The metal man drew the verdant boy closer to him, so that he was cradling the changeling like a doll. Cyborg, however, did not try to stop Beast Boy's weeping. He knew that the younger teen had too many negative emotions to continually bottle up.

_I shouldn't have let this happen_, Cyborg thought guiltily. _I shouldn't have let B.B. go on blaming himself for this whole nightmare for such a long time_.

Sometime after this, Cyborg realized that Beast Boy's sobs had subsided. He blinked, and looked down to see that the younger boy had cried himself to sleep in his arms. The moonlight shone onto Beast Boy's face, making the tear tracks of misery all the more obvious.

_Things will be better now_, Cyborg told himself firmly. _B.B. will be happier, and I'm going to talk to Robin about his role in Beast Boy's depression_

Carefully, as not to disturb the sleeping boy in his arms, Cyborg stood and gently Beast Boy with no effort at all. Cyborg carried his friend back to the Tower, leaving Beast Boy's sorrow and anguish to be stolen by the wind.

The End.

_I wrote this story because I seriously thought the Beast Within didn't resolve any of the Titans' friendships with Beast Boy. And because the friendship between Beast Boy and Cyborg is the most heavily emphasized during the TV show, yet there are hardly any friendship stories out there. Hope you liked the ending!_


End file.
